Downward Spiral
by Prettylittlefan
Summary: "Trapped in this downward spiral. A vicious circle of lies, fueled with revenge." Hanna's just found out her best friend has committed the ultimate betrayal. Can she learn to trust again, to let anyone in? Two-, possibly three-shot.


**A/N: Okay, I completely thought this was longer when I first typed it up. I have no idea how it only ended up being 1,424 words. Whatever.**

**This will probably end up being either a two-shot or a three-shot, depending on what I can do with it. It was jsut an idea thta popped into my head.  
**

**My True Love is Forever & Revelation readers (especially TLiF): I'm so, so sorry about not updating. The next thing I will update will be True Love is Forever. :)  
**

Her head spun, in fact the entire room did. The only thing that was in focus was the almost empty bottle of vodka that sat in front of her on the coffee table, her mother out of town and unable to get back, and everyone else oblivious to her extreme pain. There was only one person she wanted by her side now, and he had probably just landed his late-night flight out to California. Caleb had gone to the ball with her, sure, but he had informed her ahead of time that he was flying out to Montecito. It wasn't a problem before, but now—now was a completely different story.

She hiccuped loudly, almost giggling at the noise until the dejection rose up again and killed the sound halfway up her throat. After they'd agreed on a sleepover, Hanna had insisted she wanted to be alone to process everything. She didn't want to be alone in all honesty, and she knew she she shouldn't be, but she didn't want a pity party. And Hanna knew that was what she'd get if she'd stayed with the others. The other two were probably sporting tear-stained dresses by now; Emily was most likely still sobbing her way into next week.

Her cell phone, well, Mona's cell phone, buzzed out of control on the table next to the bottle of alcohol, but everything was too fuzzy for Hanna to even realize what she would be grabbing at. So she ignored it, as text by text and phone call by phone call poured in. "Leave a message," she sing-songed, even though no one could hear her.

Thinking back on one of her conversations with Spencer, she may have been on the right track. Both of them had known that Mona was capable of something like this, but neither one had wanted to believe it. At least Hanna hadn't. Spencer had jumped at the chance for a new suspect.

"_And Mona? I remember Alison being especially cruel to her, she just wanted to be her friend. Maybe that's what caused her to turn out the way she is now?"_

"_No, Mona wouldn't do that to me."_

"_Hanna, Mona uninvited you to her birthday party just because you wouldn't skip school, plus Mona talks like A texts. I mean she uses bitches a lot right? But Mona isn't clever enough to do this alone…."_

"_No. There is no way she's doing this, Spence, she's a terrible liar. I know she is. There's no way she could pretend like we're best friends and then go behind my back, and, what? Run me over? No."_

Hanna let out an involuntary sob, crumpling into a ball on the couch and finally allowing herself to show all of her emotions. She was so angry, and so disappointed that when her phone began buzzing again, she was quick to find it and throw it against the nearest wall. At least Hanna thought that was a wall. It was hard to tell through the pain and the numbness of everything. Finally, she fell asleep, tear and mascara stains fresh on her cheeks.

* * *

His phone beeped once, and Caleb ignored it. He was scrolling through his email, and smiling like a fool; Hanna had sent him pictures straight from the dance, right when they'd taken them and they both glowed. They looked so in love, like nothing else mattered. Of course, nothing else did matter when she was around. It was Hanna and Hanna only.

Again, his cell phone beeped, alerting him of another text. Whoever it was could wait. Someone was impatient.

A moment later, it chimed again and he gritted his teeth, giving in and finally checking it. Something deep down in his gut told him t, although he wasn't sure why.

_"You need to get back here NOW -Emily"_

_"Get your ass back to Rosewood and come see Hanna. -Spencer"_

_"Caleb, Hanna needs you. She'll push you away but she needs you, now. -Aria"_

His heart plummeted and he gathered up his things. Whatever it was, it was clearly top-priority, and if Hanna needed him, he was there in a heartbeat. Caleb had no idea why he was even leaving again after he'd just arrived in California, but the urgency of the three girls' texts and the fact that Hanna wasn't picking up her own phone was enough for him. His rang in his pocket; Aria calling, probably to make sure that he was on his way back.

Didn't they know that he'd sprint across the continent for Hanna if he needed to?

Of course, that was unnecessary because his mother insisted that he take the next flight back to Pennsylvania once Caleb had explained to her. She could really see how much he loved this girl, and how good for him she was, even if she'd never met Hanna personally.

In a frenzied rush, he picked up his bags and bid everyone goodbye, leaving it up to Claudia to explain why he was leaving so quickly. The family's driver took him to Los Angeles International Airport in record time, feeling the tension radiating from Caleb. He'd replied to all of the girls asking what had happened that he needed to be back so soon, and they'd all three simply replied "Mona." He knew that this was important, but how much damage could that girl do? She was smaller than Hanna, probably even smaller than Aria. Still, he worried none-the-less, sighing impatiently every 5 minute interval before the plane boarded.

* * *

_Everyone who she'd ever loved was there. Hanna was surrounded by all of them, all of which were holding knives so sharp that she could feel every nerve ending in her body screaming already. The thing was, their knives were pointed at her, poised to kill. She was in the forest, trapped, locked in by a ring of trees all set ablaze. Fire was the only thing that lit the forest; otherwise, it was pitch black._

_"We don't want to hurt you Hanna, but we will if we have to." A chorus of voices arose and, her eyes wide like a doe's, she took a deep breath, only to release it again. A string of letters flew out among the vapor of her breath, taking the place of words, and although no sound accompanied it, they all understood._

_W-h-y-?_

_They all stepped forward with the same robotic grin on their faces, a maniacal look in their eyes. Her own eyes skimmed the circle; her father and mother, Spencer and Emily and Aria, and finally, Caleb. One person was missing._

_Mona._

_Every muscle in Hanna's frail body tensed as an ice-cold object touched the front of her neck. Had she not been paralyzed in fear, she would've looked down just to validate that it was, in fact, one of the impossibly sharp knives at her throat. "Surprise, sweetie." Mona's voice purred harshly into her ear. The knife begun to lodge itself into her neck, crimson blood seeping out of the forming wound and trickling down the front of her dress, creating a path that signified how ignorantly trusting she'd been, how naïve—_

* * *

Gasping for breath as she was shot out of her dream, Hanna realized with one glance that she was on the floor. The carpet itched her cheek, which was still wet with tears. She was eye level with the carpet and had clearly fallen off the sofa, which was the last place she could remember being. Her head was pounding and the only breaths she could take were ragged and shallow. Everything still spun in circles just a bit and, while attempting to stand up, Hanna fell back into a pile of dress fabric on the floor.

_It was only a dream..._

But really, it was reality.

Another tear swooped down her cheek, bringing proof of her immense pain along with it. There was plenty more where that came from though.

Soon, Hanna was controlled by the intense sobs that took over her mind, her soul, even her body. Tears were pouring down left and right. Second after second, like a race to her chin.

The sound of metal jiggling sounded through the room, echoing off of the walls and again in Hanna's mind. The tears stopped falling, she was scared into numbness. It was almost a nice feeling, the feeling of nothing. She was paralyzed into fear, just like her dream. She couldn't move and could barely breathe. Paranoia filled her mind. _Mona escaped. She's here to kill me, finish me off. Convince me to turn against my friends, like she did to me._ Her own thoughts consumed her so much that she didn't even notice the mystery person had gotten in, and their shoes were making a loud sound on the kitchen floor. Until she heard her name.

"Hanna!"

**It may be obvious. Review please. :)**


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